Page 15 - Industrial Technology EXTRA 15th March 2021

Manual tasks in F&B factories
Typical examples for areas where employees
perform manual tasks are those that are
repetitive such as sorting and classifying goods,
aligning and orienting, as well as the filling and
labelling of containers. Since they interact with
machines, also taking over transport tasks, and
often standing for many hours, there is an increased Integrated, intelligent and interactive
risk of postural defects or accidents at the conveyor. It is essential to make such processes become more
Furthermore, repetitive tasks can become very efficient, minimising interruptions, while protecting
expensive in terms of money and productivity due to employees and making better use of their talents.
long term illnesses or heavy rotation in the Robotics and automation solutions can help by
workforce. transporting, sorting or palletising loads – both in
Adding to these, there are manual tasks where mass and customised production.
employees have to lift and handle boxes and A concrete practical example: fully automated
cartons in order to palletise, box and unbox goods. solutions can be used in high-speed lines. They
Other areas where employees work manually are consist, for example, of industrial robotics, high-
WIP and replenishment, the moving of finished speed pick-and-place applications, smart conveyor
goods, but also quality inspection and warehousing belts and integrated machine robot control together
challenges that can all represent a physical strain with edge AI analysis functions, i.e. data analysis at
and be psychologically stressful due to constant machine level (AI). In customer-specific
repetition. environments, on the other hand, collaborative
robots provide flexibility, since they can be adapted
to new requirements faster and better than
permanently mounted industrial robots.

Optimising transport tasks
Mobile robots can also take over the transport of
goods and raw materials. Considering the fact that
around 95 million working days per year are lost
through injuries to employees moving around the
factory or warehouse, modern solutions can greatly
reduce the risk of accidents in this respect.
Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) transport
products directly and quickly to the exact place
where they are needed for further processes and
they dispose of waste or move finished packages.
AMR fleets and Mobile Manipulators (Cobots plus
mobile robots) also support quality control,
traceability, order management, order fulfilment and
warehousing.

March 2021 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA • p15